


Christmas Snake

by EriWritesDrarry



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Fluff, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Light Angst, M/M, Mistletoe, drarry christmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-09-30 23:57:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17233565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EriWritesDrarry/pseuds/EriWritesDrarry
Summary: Harry invites Malfoy to the Eighth year Christmas party.





	Christmas Snake

**Author's Note:**

> Written for #hpsecretsanta2018 for @cozyteacups <3

Harry sighed, stepping into the warm Honeydukes shop. He needed a quick gift for Hermione and Ron. Usually he’d put more effort in it, but he was already busy planning the entire Christmas party for his eighth year classmates, so he didn’t have time to pick up anything special.

Harry shrugged off the snow on his shoulders and turned to the nearest display. Chocolate frogs. Perfect for Ron. He reached over and his hand suddenly brushed against another. He looked up, startled.

“Oh, Malfoy.” He said lamely, withdrawing his hand.

“Potter,” Malfoy responded, face tight and haughty as always. He looked tense and there was a tiredness to his eyes. But, then again, he seemed to always look tired nowadays.

“Sorry, go ahead,” Harry gestured to the candy.

“…. Thanks,” Malfoy nodded curtly, grabbing a few and dropping them into a candy bag.

Harry smiled at him, “‘Course.”

They stood there, awkwardly for a moment, before Malfoy glared down at him.

“Are you going to grab a frog or are you just going to stare at me all day?”

“Oh! Sorry.” Harry quickly took a few scoops worth of the chocolates and plopped them in his own bag. He exhaled loudly, trying to shake away his slight embarrassment. When he looked up again, he was surprised to see Malfoy still standing there.

“Er… Alright there, Malfoy?”

Malfoys lips tightened, as if he were thinking of speaking. Or maybe he was trying to hold something back. Either way, he shook his head and turned abruptly. Before he could fully walk away, Harry’s hand shot out and grabbed his arm.

“Wait.”

Malfoy looked back at him, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Ah. You're- You’re coming to the eighth year Christmas party, right? It’s just going to be in our common room, but still…”

“I… was thinking about it.”

“Good. You should come.” Harry’s cheeks reddened, “Er, everyone’s coming. So it’d be a waste if you didn’t at least… What I mean is-“

“I’ll go, Potter. Now can I have my arm back?” Malfoys face was angled away from him, but he could have sworn he saw his ears turn pink.

“Right. Sorry. Good.”

Malfoy nodded again and stalked off, disappearing behind an aisle. Harry had a strange urge to follow him, but he continued to shop, pushing the feeling away.

—

Harry looked around the room once more. The festivities were in full swing. Tinsel, fairy lights, floating decorations and a large Christmas tree took up most of the room. All the eighth year students filled up the spaces, drinking firewhisky and butterbeer. But mostly firewhisky. Part of Harry wished he didn’t bring it based on how everyone was acting. Some were normal, just speaking loudly and laughing at everything. Others… a bit more sloppy when it came to basic tasks. Or human interactions.

Harry wanted to pay attention to it all, whether that be calming everyone or enjoying the night, but he felt restless for some reason. Well… not “some” reason. Definitely one reason.

“You alright, mate?” Ron nudged him, searching in Harry’s line of sight. “Looking for someone?”

“Oh, no, not real-“

“Some party this is, Potter. I’m only an hour late and everyone’s wasted.”

Harry spun around, eyes landing on Malfoy, but was quickly distracted by the bright green character on his chest. He almost chuckled at the Christmas jumper he was wearing. It sported a green snake wearing a Santa hat.

Malfoy saw his expression and looked down, his cheeks flushing. “Pansy made me wear it. Its stupid, I know.”

“No, it’s not. It’s cute.”

Ron coughed mid-drink, spilling firewhisky on his jumper. Malfoys eyes widened slightly and he looked away, face redder than before.

“It’s just a nice jumper, is all,” Harry tried to back track, but the smirk on Rons face wasn’t helping.

“He’s right, Malfoy. It’s cute.” Ron snickered.

“Oh, bugger off, the two of you.” Malfoy huffed and stomped off towards the refreshment table.

“Thanks, Ron.”

“That was all you, mate.”

Harry sighed, watching Malfoy angrily pour firewhisky into his cup.

“Well?”

Harry blinked, raising an eyebrow at Ron. “What?”

“You’re not going to go after him? You know, for all the staring you’ve done this year, there’s finally an event that warrants a conversation for conversations sake. You’d be wasting an opportunity if you just stood there like a right git.”

“Bugger off.”

Harry ignored Rons fading laughter as he walked back up to Malfoy.

“Hey, sorry. I wasn’t making fun of you.”

Malfoy jumped, but quickly regained his composure. “Sure.”

“Really, I wasn’t. It’s a cute jumper, I swear.”

“Alright, alright,” He waved him off. “You can stop saying that.”

“What? Cute?”

“Yes,” He practically hissed.

Harry smirked, “You don’t like being called cute?”

“I-!” Malfoy looked flustered, glancing around him as if he was worried they’d be heard. No one was paying attention. And if they were, they weren’t sober enough to remember anything. “First of all, you didn’t call _me_ cute. You called the _jumper_ cute. Second, anyone would hate being called that. It’s undignified.”

“Ha!” Harry snorted at that.

“What?”

“Nothing. Nothing. You’re just acting cute, is all.”

“Ugh!” Malfoy took a swig of his drink. Harry assumed it was to hide his face. “Did you come over here for a reason, or just to annoy me?”

“Both.”

Malfoy glared at him. Harry grinned in response.

“Come with me.”

“Why?”

“I have something for you.”

Malfoy shot him a suspicious look, but Harry was already tugging him to the hallway and into his room.

“Make yourself comfy. I just have to look for it.”

“Ugh,” Malfoy looked around his side of the dorm, placing his cup on the cluttered nightstand. “You’re filthy.”

“Oh? So if I checked your room right now, it’d be spotless.” Harry called from underneath the bed, rummaging around for a box.

“I-“ He was silent for a moment. “Mind your business, Potter.”

Harry laughed, finally finding the wrapped gift he hid. He stood up and sat at the end of his mattress, patting the spot next to him. Malfoy pursed his lips, unmoving.

“Come on.”

“But I…” Malfoys face dropped. “I didn’t get you anything. I didn’t know…”

Something in Harry’s chest throbbed. “Trust me, you didn’t need to get me anything. You’ll understand in a second. Just sit.”

Malfoy slowly made his way over, sitting farther than Harry had indicated. Harry smiled at him, gently placing the gift in his lap. “Go on.”

He sighed, gingerly unwrapping the box and opening the lid. He gasped. “Potter…”

“It’s your wand. Sorry I didn’t give it to you earlier. I just thought… Plus, I cleaned it. I got this wand polishing kit and-" Harry stopped when he noticed the tears welling up in Malfoys eyes. ”What’s wrong? I’m sorry, I should have given it to you earlier.”

“No, no.” Malfoy rubbed his eyes, shaking his head. His voice was thick. “It’s just… I can’t take this. I’m on probation from the ministry and-“ His voice cracked. He took a deep breath to steady himself. “-and Im not allowed to have a wand until I graduate.”

“Oh. I didn’t know.” Harry hesitantly put a hand on Malfoy's back. He rubbed small, soothing circles on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep it safe for you until you graduate.”

He exhaled, sitting straighter and wiping the stray tears that fell to his cheeks. “You don’t have to do that, Harry. I’ll just give it to the ministry to take care of.”

“What…?”

“The ministry. They’ll take care of it.”

Harry grinned, “You said ‘Harry’.”

“Huh?” Malfoy blinked at him, before his eyes went wide. “No, I didn’t! Who cares? It’s your name. Piss off.”

Harry laughed, hand clutching at Malfoys jumper as he doubled over.

“Shut up, Potter!”

“Sorry, Sorry.”

Harry wiped at his eyes, sitting back up. He chuckled still and grinned at Malfoy. "I mean it, though."

"Mean what?" Malfoy pouted, still embarrassed.

"I'll take care of the wand for you… I don't trust the ministry. They might try to keep it from you without reason."

He raised an eyebrow at him, "You? Not trusting the authorities. That's unusual."

"Is it?"

"Mm… Maybe not so much." Malfoy nodded to himself. He looked down at his lap, hands hovering over the wand, as if afraid to touch it. Harry watched him for a moment.

"Thank you."

Malfoy glanced up at him, expression confused but also soft. "For what?"

"Saving me," Harry breathed. He trailed his hand from Malfoy's shoulder to his hand, grasping it tightly. "At the manor."

Malfoy gulped, but he didn't look away. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet. Scared. "What else was I supposed to do?"

"Tell them it was me?"

Malfoy shook his head. He looked down at their hands. "I wasn't doing it for you, Harry. I was doing it for me. For my parents. I needed you to win for us."

"Well, I'm grateful anyways."

They sat there for another moment before Malfoy stood up suddenly, ripping his hand away and placing the box into Harry's lap. "Right, well. Thank you for the gift that's not really a gift but actually _mine_. You better polish it every week, Potter, or I swear-"

He stopped, back towards him and frozen where he stood.

"Thank you, Harry." He said at last, "I'm glad you're still here… With me."

And then he was walking swiftly out the door.

"Wait, what?" Harry jumped to his feet, following after him. He quickly grabbed him before they could cross the threshold to the common room. "Malfoy, wait a moment-"

"Ooh!" Came a squeal from the crowd of drunk wizards and witches. Parkinson was swaying on the spot, cup in one hand and the other pointing just above the two of them. "Mistletoe!"

Harry looked up to see a handful of mistletoe growing down from the hallway entrance. The other students who heard Parkinson's outburst turned in their direction, already whopping and hollering. Harry cringed, glancing back to see Malfoy's shocked expression.

"I couldn't possibly!" He spluttered.

"Do it!" Came Ron's drunk voice.

" _Ron_ ," Hermione chastised.

“Do it,” Came Luna’s whispy voice.

“ _Luna_.”

Soon everyone in the room was chanting "Do it! Do it!", most slurring the words as they did so. Harry caught Malfoy's eye and shrugged.

"They're not gonna remember anything."

"Excuse me?" He responded, scandalized.

Harry laughed, "Oh, come on. It's just a kiss."

"That is not the point-"

"Draco," Harry leaned in with a grin on his face, whispering, "Just kiss me."

Malfoy stared at him, brows furrowed. For a moment, Harry thought he made him angry until Malfoy proved him wrong by grabbing a handful of his jumper and pressing their mouths together. It was quick and clumsy, but it sent a warmth through his body all the way to his toes. And before Harry could react, Malfoy had let him go and disappeared within the deafening crowd. Harry blinked rapidly, trying to find his bearings when he heard Ron yell out, "Well? Don't just stand there like a right git."

Harry grinned as he pushed through the throng, giving in to the urge to follow that cute Christmas snake.


End file.
